I see so many girls on Instagram believe that they’re doing something good for themselves by partaking in the various “binge free challenges” that crop up. While I certainly agree that these challenges encourage a sense of community, I do not really understand how they are beneficial.
Are Social Media Eating Disorder Challenges Causing You to Binge More?
If you’re not familiar with these challenges, they are basically a list of questions. Each day, participants answer the question that corresponds to the number of days that they have been “binge free.” They are intended to be done consecutively in the hope that participants will remain “binge free” at least until they run out of questions. Responses are posted to their social media accounts (Instagram, Tumblr, etc.).
This is the most recent one that has been popping up on my Instagram feed:
Let’s take the first three questions and dissect their flaws.
DAY 1 question: Obviously.
DAY 2 question: This is a loaded question that belongs nowhere near an ED community.
First of all, binges are incredibly subjective. If you’re an anorexic dealing with episodes of binge eating, what constitutes a binge for you may be wildly different than what constitutes a binge for an obese person. When people search through these tags and see what other people define as a binge, they will, in all likelihood, compare themselves. Maybe one of these will sound familiar to you:
“His binges look like my snacks!”
“I’m glad I can’t eat that much…”
“She considers that a binge? I don’t think she really has a problem…”
“Will my binges eventually get as bad as her’s?”
“My binges aren’t as big as other people’s. Maybe I’m just exaggerating…”
These types of question create forums for disordered eaters to compare themselves, their stories and their habits to others.
When I used to look at these challenges, I felt so ashamed if my binges were larger than the others who posted their responses. I felt misunderstood and alone. Similarly, if I saw foods that I ate regularly without guilt on someone else’s “trigger food” list, I started to question myself.
Should I be eating bananas? I didn’t know they had so much sugar. She’s thinner than me, so she must know what she’s talking about. I should stop eating fruit…
And so your circle of fear foods expands.
And so your binges intensify.
DAY 3 question: If you want to stop binge eating, you need to stop worrying about your weight, EVEN IF you’re technically overweight (this is a topic for another day, but I just wanted to point out how detrimental this question is). You shouldn’t be thinking about your weight, especially as it pertains to weight LOSS. In my opinion, you cannot recover from binge eating if you’re sole motivation is to lose weight.
Stopping Binge Eating Isn’t As Important as Forgiving Yourself
Even though these challenges are made with the intention of motivating people to stop binging, they put unnecessary focus on things that tend to make people want to binge more. Furthermore, they provide no real skills or information that their participants can apply to their lives. Let’s say a person finishes the challenge, 30 days binge free. Now what? Will they go back to binging because they have no more questions to answer?
After counting my binge free days, I’m not sure it’s the most useful tool in preventing binge episodes. It may be a great place to start, especially if you are struggling to go more than a few days without binging, but it eventually becomes a crutch. The more days you go without binging, the higher the stakes. Zero starts to feel overwhelming.
For a binge eater, a “binge free” challenge isn’t necessarily a “challenge” at all. While I do not deny that resisting a binge can be crazy difficult, the hardest part is actually refusing to get caught back up in the cycle of restricting. Yes, you binged, but tomorrow will you get back on track? Will you follow your meal plan or hunger cues?
Forgiving yourself and moving on, that’s the REAL challenge.
gababytes 